As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many school districts have closed for the remainder of the academic year. These closures are unfortunate because, for many students, schools are their only source of trauma-informed care and supports. When schools reopen, they must develop a comprehensive plan to address the potential mental health needs of their students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).This paper discusses how positive emotions can help maintain and improve mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak, taking into account examples of social interaction and positive psychology research efforts in Japanese context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).The COVID-19 crisis can be defined as a collective trauma, which contributes to an upheaval of community connection and functioning. The current pandemic has also illuminated disparities in mental health supports. In this commentary, we highlight one community organization, located in metro Detroit, that has responded to the trauma by bolstering resources and supports for residents, many of whom are ethnoracial minorities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).Objective The present study aimed to explore the lived experience of the spontaneous creation in art by Holocaust survivor artists, and to gain new insight into the way creative engagement may relate to survivors' traumatic past. Method Following the phenomenological paradigm of qualitative research, semistructured interviews were conducted with 30 Holocaust survivor visual artists residing in Israel (Mage = 80.6, SD = 5.5). Data were analyzed enabling the capture of various "lived experiences," aiming to establish an insider's conceptualization, understanding the essence of the phenomenon and identification of multiple meanings. Results Expressions clustered around two major themes. The first-Turning outward from a world of threat to a world at which to wonder-that describes how, beyond the enduring inner world of abandonment and threat, enhanced through art is a realm of wonderment at the world beyond the self. The second-Connecting with the world and others through creative experience-relating to modes of moving outward in art toward an emotional experience of connection. Conclusions Discussion of these themes pointed to the emotional state of self-transcendence as fundamental to survivors' artistic experience, and suggests how this may relate to their enduring struggle with trauma; thus, shedding new light on the redeeming potential of art in the face of trauma. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).In previous President's Columns (Valeras, 2019a, 2019b), the properties of complexity and complex adaptive systems have been discussed, in terms of the value of continual and iterative change, in order to nudge a system to emerge differently, rather than maintain the status quo. COVID-19 is not a nudge; it is a tidal wave. Engaging with and understanding complexity science allows us to examine the internal rules of our health care system and recognize our own role as agents that can systematically and deliberately disrupt the status quo. The intertwined and interdependent complex relationships that exist in health care between persons, business, academia, and government buffer the system from rapid and drastic change. COVID-19, however, swiftly disrupted many of the rules keeping the system in its previous state. Some would describe this sudden and dramatic systems change as a Black Swan. This column will examine the role of the Black Swan, as it relates to this pandemic. The Black Swan is a term coined in the 2nd century by Roman poet Juvenal's description of something being rara avis in terries nigroque simillima cygno, Latin for "a bird as rare as the black swan" (Taleb, 2007, p. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate.html xxxi). At this time, reference to a black swan was meant as a statement of impossibility, because all historical records of swans had been white. In 1697, Dutch explorers discovered black swans living in the wild in Western Australia (Taleb, 2007, p. xxi), and the black swan became a metaphor for events that come as a surprise, have major implications, and can often be understood only with the benefit of hindsight. This theory of the black swan was further articulated by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his books Fooled by Randomness (Taleb, 2001) and The Black Swan (Taleb, 2007). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).This poem is about an elderly client trapped in an abusive relationship. The client has a history of complex trauma and suffers from major depression. During the course of our sessions, she started cutting herself. As her psychotherapist, I was concerned that she may be regressing. I struggled to appreciate the reason for her self-mutilation and redirected her attention from the past to the present. As we processed her trauma, this poem was my attempt to help her gain insight into her cutting behavior and her triggers regarding the opposite sex. My goal was for the client to practice dual awareness and envision a future in which she was in control of herself. Accordingly, I shared the poem with her during our sessions. Following this, she wrote a letter to me stating that, for the first time in her life, she felt seen and understood. Also, in the letter, she indicated that my voice echoed in her brain and that every day she was "getting a little bit stronger." (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).Presents a poem about a hospitalized patient who continues to smoke cigarettes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).The majority of sickle cell disease (SCD) patients suffer from numerous health problems like chronic pain and anemia. Oftentimes these patients require emergency health care, including unscheduled blood transfusions to treat or prevent severe complications accompanied with SCD. This poem explores a Black SCD patient's experiences with implicit and explicit biases among health care providers as a person with this type of condition seeks emergency care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).